My People Are Norwegian
by Danica V
Summary: A new investigator has joined the team. Her and Greg share some common interests and ancestry.
1. Chapter 1: so Long New york

The slam of the phone in the windowed office was both seen and heard by all the scientists surrounding me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head; I needed to get out of New York, somewhere far away where I wasn't pinned as bait all the time. I moved here a year ago to continue my astounding career as a criminalist, but was met with the unfortunate task of watching AFIS and CODIS do scans for hours on end. I had been doing this for a year, and only on a couple of occasions have I stopped living the life as a lab rat to survey a scene. Honestly it was my supervisor's fault, and this time I wasn't going to be bait.

"Hey, can you run this through CODIS for me?" My coworker Ryan came into my lab and asked.

I glared. "Do it yourself, I'm done."

I stormed off, letting my long blonde hair flow after my departing form. The phone call had been an angry one with my supervisor, and I told him I was done being the pretty blonde that they lured every serial killer in with. Besides it was against regulations to use a lab worker to do such, but Starr didn't give a shit about anything.

Honestly, the pay was good and I could deal with knowing the facts of where the items I examined where from, but Starr made me want to quit. The fact that he constantly tried to get me the obedient little girl that everyone assumes I am is fucking ridiculous. After five years of working my ass off At NTNU, and working for the city of Oslo for six straight years as one of the highest-ranking officers, I was none too pleased to be forced back into the life of a lab rat. But my mother had always told me never to give up on my dreams, no matter what the consequences were, and I was breaking out to a newer city. In this new city with an extremely high-tech lab, made me tolerate the thought of being shut in as a lab rat.

Walking down into the dank subway at too late of night, I got a phone call from an area code that I had no idea about. Yet when the deep middle-aged man's voice sounded in the line, it came clear to me that I had heard this voice once before. "Miss Landvik?"

"This is she." I replied.

"Welcome a board to the Las Vegas Crime lab, I've spoken with your supervisor and your transfer will be complete in a matter of months. Good luck to you, and we all look forward to meeting you."

I didn't need to know his name again, I was just happy to be far away from Richard Starr, and my stalker known as my ex-boyfriend. Getting on the subway to the East Village made me realize that Vegas would be so much different from New York, reminding me of how hard my transition had been. I knew I had to brace myself for whatever Sin City had in store for me. I was a strong, independent woman; I could deal with anything, but if only I knew.


	2. Chapter 2: Starting New

Arriving at the run-down apartment building in the Village, I was met with the usual haggard nature of the place. This was particularly the complex full of the German immigrants, but I connected with these people, as I was also an immigrant to this country. Don't get me wrong I love my homeland, but America gave me opportunities in my choice career, or at least I had once thought it did. I took the stairs two at a time, for fear that the more worn of the planks would someday fall through. It was a habitual thing of mine, that was often looked on as thoroughly odd, but being in the career that I was I had no time for stuff fickle thoughts. Once on my floor, I flung open the green door to march into my home with the unusable stove, brown tap water and leaky pipes that weren't ever gonna be fixed. I dove into my room, to collect the most valuable of my possessions.

Leaving New York would be another change for my life, but I was happy to get out of this hellhole. I had no idea if Las Vegas would be better or worse for me, but I had to get away from what I left back home, even if it wouldn't let go of me. What I knew, most importantly, was that their crime lab was far advanced from the one we used here. It was this factor that I had moved from my birthplace to here, and now I was continuing on that path to find what would be the best for my career. As a child I had the things I loved ripped away from me, and when I met Thor he had been the worse of my problems. Once I went to the University, I came to the realization that I couldn't be with such a vile creature, and that I would never be his "bride."

I packed up all that I would need, and left my life in New York behind. I took the long road home, to a place that would be incredibly new and different, similar to how this city was when I first arrived. I wasn't looking for the glitz and glamour, I was just looking for a place to belong and perhaps I'd find it in the desert. Along the drive, my pit stops were used to make arrangement to have a place to stay, which translated to a sleazy motel off the strip. Once I arrived to my destination, to stow my personal items in the run down motel a step below a hostel, I knew I had to step up my game plan. I needed to be stable, more so than I used to be.

So I gathered my research, collected from the newspaper I purchased at the gas station, I began to search for my independence. I had been through this on my own in college, and then while I worked as an investigator . Unfortunately my own stupidity was what had gotten me into such a mess in New York. Honestly, the man I wished to never see again who had been tracking my steps was the contributing factor. There was a bigger picture to why I despised being live bait for any criminals. I stopped being the victim long ago, and I wasn't about to let that happen to me once again.

Aksel was miles away, he couldn't save me now and it was up to me alone to take care of myself. I knew to never rely on people, for they could be your best friends and enemies at the same time. My only kin hasn't seen me in far too many years, and it was then that I pulled out my mobile phone and dialed the number I had memorized by heart since I was eleven years old.

"Aksel?…Yeah it's your sister…well I moved again…Las Vegas…they're lab in more high tech…I love you too, good luck tonight."

The short-lived conversations were living proof of how horrible it was to have a rock-star older brother. Always on the road, never having a minute to speak with the girl he raised, and never being there when I needed him. I learned this the hard way, and some would think I'd be bitter, but I'm not. Life wasn't fair or just, I knew that through my work and I'd know it 'til the day I died. I chose my own fate, with no guidance and I'd make my own choices with none as well.


	3. Chapter 3: First meeting Greg

Still without a permanent residence, I gathered my things for my first day on the job. It would be a day similar to the orientation that I was given when I first joined the NY crime lab, but I was hopeful that I would be perceived as an equal and not looked down upon because of my looks. I also hoped that just because I fit a stereotype for my people that my coworkers wouldn't assume we were all the same. I dressed casual yet professional enough to look like what my record stated, although I hoped none of my misdemeanors were addressed.

It had been the best idea of my life to buy a car in the first few weeks of living in this foreign land, although for New York is was very foolish.I made due, and now my transfer to the great dust ball of a state called Nevada, it had been the best decision I had ever made in my life. When I pulled into the lot, I had been extremely nervous, and I sat for nearly ten minutes practicing to rid myself of that horrid dialect that had caused me trouble on some many of occasions. To be frank, what would a woman like myself be doing out here in the desert? That was the question I had to ask myself.

Finally able to work up the courage to get out of my car, I approached the front desk to check in and was directed to my supervisor's office. A bearded man, greyed with age sat at the desk inside looking over legal documents with his eyeglasses slowly sliding down his nose. I took silent steps to the open door, and raised my fist to lightly knock. The man looked up suddenly, and his massive amounts of paperwork were forgotten. His eyes scanned across at the visitor tag I bore on my person, allowing him to progress that I was his newest student.

He stood from the desk, and beckoned me inside. "You must be Siv Landvik."

I entered the room, but felt uncomfortable sitting down. I nodded. "Yes, I'm reporting for my first day."

He held out his hand to me, "Gil Grissom, it's nice to finally meet you Siv and welcome to the team. I'm going to have Catharine show you around, and then we'll talk about where you'll stand in this lab."

"I completely understand, sir."

He gave me a strange look. "Most of them just call me Grissom. Norse mythology?"

I nodded. "If you read my file, you'd know my heritage."

He nodded slowly, "I have, and I must say you are quite a character."

I sighed. A red-headed women walked into the office and looked at me to Grissom. She was younger than Grissom, but had experienced more life than I had. She held her hand out to me, and I shook it. "Catharine Willows."

"Siv Landvik. So where to?"

She smiled. "I think you should meet Greg first, you're both Norwegian."

"Oh? Are you familar with Norse Mythology, like my mother was?" I asked.

Catharine shook her head, "No, Grissom mentioned it to Greg as his mother's maiden name was Hojem."

I followed her down the hall of the sterilized lab with many windows where one could observe the work that went on. This was night shift, and I was in heaven as night work was when I was at my peak. She guided me to the reconstruction room where a tall brunette and an attractive male blonde were surveying crime scene photos. Catharine cleared her throat, and the two of them looked up. The man eyed me strangely; perhaps it was the prospect of having another female in his presence. The woman just appeared curious at who I was.

"Sara, Greg, this is our newest transfer Siv Landvik." Catharine introduced me.

I waved and Sara said hello before going back to her photos. Greg; however, walked over to the two of us until I realized Catharine had disappeared. I thought that had been rather odd, but perhaps another co-worker had pulled her alongside for her personal observation on a case. Greg extended a hand to me, a gesture I was getting used to and looked at me for but a second. "Thor's bride."

I sighed and nodded. Then, on impulse my right hand reached up to let my index finger slide down the side of his sculpted jaw, before walking away to wander the lab that would become my new work place. I learned that the people in this city were more welcoming to my place in their lab, unlike New York where I was used to do whatever they asked of me. I had a feeling I was going to enjoy Vegas. The only thing left to do was make a permanent residence.


	4. Chapter 4:The Annoyance That is Hodges

The first day of doing any work, still shacking up in a sleazy motel, I was put into the DNA analysis lab. I caught on quickly to the annoyance that was referred to as Hodges. I wasn't sure if he was hitting on me, or if he was just that annoying always, but Mia another lab tech told me he was always that way. She said he had a man-crush on Grissom as well. I wasn't fond of being a lab-rat, I had paid my dues before and got trapped in NY, but here the high-tech labs were a blessing. I was thoroughly impressed with it.

I was still unsure of where I stood on the team, but Grissom had reassured me that would get out in the field as soon as I could. He actually read my files from Oslo, which meant he knew that I had been the fastest in the city and had uncovered many of the crimes committed in my birthplace. I was thankful for doing that, as my record was not good on my attitude and behavior, especially if it was regarding my stay in New York's lab. I had punched my supervisor in the face once for making me his bait, and I was suspended for a month with no pay. But I had faith in this Grissom guy, he knew the true meaning of forensics science and I found that refreshing.

I sat in the lab chair, my blonde locks pulled back not to interfere with any DNA evidence I was looking at. Currently I was waiting for something to be processed into CODIS, so I was brushing up on any new advance in our science so that I could be up to date. Hodges interrupted my reading, and I was not too pleased.

"Siv, Greg said that—"

Annoyed with him already, and I had only know him for a five hours, I cut his question off. "Hodges, I just met Greg, I don't know."

"Well, I figured you'd tell the truth since you actually are Norwegian. So you really spell Fountain without the O?"

I looked at him with a blank stare. "What?"

"On this one case, where I had to test the water Greg spelled fountain without the O, and told me and I quote "my people are Norwegian, that's how they spell it." So is that true?"

I stopped paying attention after his mouth opened, and waved him off once he was done. "Hodges, you're an idiot, Greg was only covering up for forgetting how to spell fountain."

When he was finally gone, I decided to set-up any other tests that I could start running while the current sperm sample was running. I picked up the slide of epiphylls that were found on a rope that was used in a supposed suicide, and slid it onto the microscope. I took out the slide that held the sample taken from the vic and compared the two samples under my microscope. In my lab notes, I logged the lens power and the correct label on the slides, as well as case number, who was working on it and who had collected evidence. Then I took notes on what was similar with the samples, and what was different. Right away I paged Warrick Brown and Sara Sidle, as they had handled the case together.

Both of them came immediately when they heard I had some news of DNA evidence they had collected. I spoke before they could, "This wasn't a suicide."

"How do you know?" Warrick asked.

"The epiphylls don't match up. Did you take DNA from the family members?" I asked them.

Sara nodded, and pulled out the slide she had made from it labeled as the Vic's brother. I looked it over in comparison, the sample and the ones found at the scene matched up. "Well it's looks like you've got a match."

Warrick smiled. "Impressive."

I shrugged. "I'm just doing my job."

"Thanks again Siv." Sara told me once she and Warrick were departing. I just waved it over, and went back to check on anymore cases that I could help solve in some form. Finding nothing, I took a cigarette break.

I lit my cigarette outside the crime lab, while Catharine was walking in from a case. She shook her head at me, and stopped to see how I was doing. "You worked with Hodges tonight? Oh that must have been horrible."

I exhaled smoke from my lungs, knowing how bad the habit was. I shook my head at Catharine's comment. "No, it's not as bad as taking off your clothes to pay for college."

Catharine laughed, and in her tone I knew she was quite aware of the feeling. "I went down that road as well. Only stopped to go to school and be a csi because a good friend of mine was murdered."

I nodded. "Parents for me. Well you better get in there, I'll check on any of the DNA samples that I can help you with."

"Hey thanks Siv, I think you'll do well here."

I tapped my ash onto the ground and took another puff of my cigarette. "I hope so."

"Just don't let Greg know you smoke." She advised with a wink before walking inside. I had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but I shrugged it off. I'd admit out of all the men I worked with Greg was definitely the most attractive, but that was of no importance.


	5. Chapter 5:Documentation with Nick Stokes

After a couple of weeks being passed down through the different department labs, and even assisting the coroner, I was finally being put on a case. Grissom had called me in to work a DB found in a nearby cemetery with Nick Stokes. I had met Nick before, he was a nice enough guy and from what I heard an excellent investigator. He was happy to have my assistance in surveying the crime scene, so I went along with whatever I was handed. Once we arrived on scene, I forced myself back into the habit of a walk-through, and then starting the documentation.

Nick snapped photos while I began to sketch out the rough sketch of the scene. He was surprised once I was onto taking notes of everything I saw before collecting evidence. Usually green investigators went straight to collecting before documenting the important information. "You've done this before."

I nodded, scribbling down that the body was fully clothed, no gunshot wounds, but stab wounds in the stomach, and that the Vic was a woman. "I was one of the best in Oslo."

I pointed to the wounds I had noted, indicating that Nick should photograph it. He did as I noted. "What brought you to Vegas?"

I noted the position of the victim and the surrounding vegetation around her. I noticed a black hair on her clothing, and jotted in down on my notes before picking it and bagging it. "I went to New York but I never got to run any cases, so I thought Vegas would be better. The thing that pushed me was how high tech the lab was, even better than New York's. That was why I left Oslo's lab."

He began to collect any physical evidence while photographing it as well. "There's more to that story."

"And you do not know me quite well enough to hear that story."

David, the coroner's assistant arrived on the scene to survey the body so that it could be delivered to the lab. David surveyed the body, noticing the stab wounds, as well as some abrasions on her wrists, which I made sure to note. Once the body was packed into a bag, Nick and I decided it was our cue to leave in order to start developing our scene evidence. We logged in our chain of custody, so that we could start possessing. I took the black hair, and some of the fiber transfers that Nick had collected and logged in over to the trace lab. It was there that I found Hodges arguing with Greg over something that I knew was of no significance.

I sighed. "Egocentrism never fails boys. Well I might as well process trace myself then."

I handed off the evidence bag to Hodges, who glared at me while Greg forgot what he was arguing about to stare at me in amazement. I walked off to go in search with Nick yet again, so we could process the rest of the scene. I had no idea that my comments to Hodges would have had an effect on Greg so much, until many days later. In which case I was then in the reconstruction room with Nick studying crime scene photos and trying to get at least a clue that could give us a lead. The murder weapon was never found, and trace had still come up empty. It was frustrating, and I wasn't about to let this case go cold.

I sighed, staring at the photo for much longer when I realized that the abrasion formed an unnatural shape. There was a knock at the open door, but I was lost in studying where I had seen the shape before. I couldn't be bothered by anything, and Nick knew this from telling the unknown visitor that I had a hunch going. The shape on the curve of her jaw wasn't just a bruise, it came from a ring, and I was willing to bet I'd seen it before. Nick looked at me when I finally figured it out.

"The boyfriend, he had a record." I told him.

Nick smiled. "We got our lead. Good job Siv, looks like you and Greg have more in common now."

I looked up at my co-worker confused, and then noticed that Greg was who had entered the room. He looked at our processing of the evidence and nodded. "Looks like we have another Class 2 csi. Welcome to the team."

I smiled at the man, who oddly was the same height that I was. "Thanks."

He smirked. "You still have Hodges pissed off."

I laughed. "He just needs to get laid."

Greg looked shocked to hear me say that. "Did you really…just wow."

I shrugged. "I was raised by a metal head, what do you expect?"

He shrugged. "I had no idea what to expect from someone like you, but I have a feeling we'll be working a lot together."


	6. Chapter 6: Teamwork

Grissom handed off the pink case slips, which only meant that crime was slow this week. Greg and I had been paired up yet again for another decomp site. I shook my head; it wasn't always solving huge murders sometimes you had to solve the tiniest cases first. I was glad to work with Greg because we worked the best together, and had even worked a double homicide without our superiors to solve it. He respected me for the most part, not that the other males on the team didn't; it was just that I had a better partnership with Greg. There was a list of reasons stating as of why. I took the slip from our supervisor and Greg followed me to the crime lab SUV to start our walk-through. He insisted on driving, and I wasn't bothered to argue.

"So double homicide, to a dead body, to a barking dog, and now Decomp?" I stated into the air.

The corners of Greg's mouth formed a smile. He ran his right hand through his newly cut hair, now spiked up with gel, as it apparently was his style for quite some time. I watched him carefully steer with only his left hand, and then bring his stray right back to the plastic rim. "Yeah this job gets ridiculous sometimes, but it's worth it. It's so much better than working as a lab rat for hours on end."

I leaned back in my seat, and nodded. "hmm."

He said no more, and parked the car outside of a secured parking lot. The first officers were standing by, protecting the crime scene for the two of us to begin our survey. Greg insisted on perfecting the sketch, so I began to jot down all my notes before photographing any type of evidence I could find. There were no fingerprints, but I was certain that some of the blood found on scene could be identifiable once put through CODIS. There was an unknown substance found on the body and the pavement that I had noted and Greg had collected it to be put through to trace analysis. The only thing left to do was to collect, bring back to the lab and process while waiting for the results. The worse thing was the fact that we were coming up empty, and I was preparing myself for a cold case no matter how much I wished it wasn't one.

Greg was skeptical. "No, there has to be an explanation."

"The killer has well-thought out plans, and seeing from the limited evidence to have our leads our dead." I replied.

"But cases don't go cold. Cold Cases are the ones that a investigator doesn't try hard enough to solve."

I shook my head, he still had a bit to learn about this work. "Greg, not every case will be solved, as can be seen clearly here. As scientists we must accept that, however; we must always search for the truth in what we learn. If you truly believe that no cases are cold, then you must test your know-how to solve this case."

He nodded at my words. "And now we wait."

Footsteps entered the processing room where we sat staring at the photos taken at the scene. I looked over quickly to see Eckley, and then just as quickly I turned back to the photos. Greg noticed the feared man in the room with us, and I noticed him stiffen. I suppressed a smile, and continued to search for a clue to tell me what really had happened at the scene. My hand reached out to Greg's arm forcing him to pay attention to the photos and not Eckley's presence. I directed him to the oddity I found in the exposed bones of the body; it looked like some sort of chemical melted them off. I remember noting a green substance near the body that I had photographed, and Greg had collected, and knew that whatever the unknown was would help us to figure out where the body had been.

Eckley cleared his throat, and as much as I wanted to ignore him I knew I couldn't. The look of disgust that graced Greg's normally pleasant features made me realize how annoyed I would be with this man. Despite my problem with authority, I would get over that to put up with him. If he was anything like the board director in New York I could win him over with my charm. I turned my head slightly, and feigned shock at his presence.

I could hear Greg's snicker, but dismissed it as I looked on Eckley with faked surprised. "I'm so sorry Eckley, sometimes I get so wrapped up in trying to solve cases that I don't notice those around me. I just have so much passion for what I do, being in Vegas has made me very fortunate."

The sour look on his face told me that he wasn't buying it. "Save it Landvid."

"Sir, it's Landvik." I informed him.

He glared, "I want to see you in my office right now."

Greg busied himself with looking at our crime scene photos, and I followed Eckley down the hall and to his office. I had a feeling that I knew what this was about. My behavior reports from Starr must have made him feel like I was a threat. Though, I couldn't say that I would blame him for it. I took a seat in the chair in front of the desk, and patiently waited for him to begin talking to me. I put on the best smile I could, an illusion that I often fronted for those who I didn't particularly like but had to respect.

He opened my file on his desk, and looked at me with an annoyed expression. "Is there a reason for the violent behavior on your record?"

I nodded. "He used me as bait, to risk my life for his benefit and I wanted Starr to know how I felt about that. If you read my files from Norway there are no records of violent or inappropriate behavior."

"Why do you need next week off?" he questioned.

"I don't need the entire week, just Thursday."

"Why?"

"It's the anniversary of my parents' death, I need to take a personal day for I know that I won't be stable."

"Fine, but I better not have any problems with you. I can't have you being a risk to my lab."

I gave him another fake smile. "I can assure you, that will not be a problem."


	7. Chapter 7:Never wanted to see you again

I took a look in the mirror on the door of my locker, making sure the cover-up was spread evenly across my face to make my bruises disappear. I took my brush out of it to smooth out my impossibly long hair, once I was finished I put it back and made sure the wrinkles were all out of my blouse. I spied Greg watching from behind me and shut the door, letting him know that I was ready for our meeting with Ecklie. He took my hand casually squeezing it to reassure me that our issues would work out, and I was thankful that I had such an appreciative man beside me. We made the walk to Ecklie's office to find him already behind his desk waiting for our arrival.

Greg and I took the seats in front of it, and I folded my hands into my lap. I had coached Greg to have good posture, and to be as polite as he could even if he disagreed with what Ecklie had to tell the two of us.

"You wanted to see the both of us?" I inquired.

Ecklie nodded, while taking a pen to the paper in front of him. "I have to take your personal statements regarding your relationship."

"Isn't that our personal life, not work?" Greg asked.

I glared at him. "Is this to remind us that work should be a professional place? Because I have been adamant since we started dating that we wouldn't bring it into our work, especially since we are so busy."

"Then what about when you were found?" Ecklie asked.

"That's a completely different issue!" Greg rebutted.

"Greg, please. What Greg's trying to say is that the issue of a loved one being faced with danger can invoke emotions that would otherwise not be publicly displayed. I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about."

"Do I? What do you think Sanders?"

Greg sighed. "Siv and I do our work well, and our relationship status will never effect that."

Ecklie sighed. "Very well, but neither of you are to investigate this case."

I was glad to finally be out of his office, as was Greg. I went over to trace to see if results from my previous case had come back, and Greg went to go see Nick about their case. Hodges told me that the trace hair found at my scene had finally be analyzed and compared to my notes. I had three suspects that were female, and all of them were brunettes but I had found a few pieces of blonde and brown hair on the scene.

"You're blonde hair was the root of the trace you had given me, and has similar characteristics to the brown hair found. The brown is synthetic, and one of the blonde hairs contains both the synthetic and natural color." Hodges told me.

"It came back female though? That means that the natural brunettes can be ruled out. I do remember one of them having lighter eyebrows and roots. Thanks Hodges."

"How would you notice something like that?" He asked me.

"I'm a natural blonde, I always know when blondes are fake."

He shook his head. "Leave now, I need my space to process."

I laughed and made my way to the evidence room with the again bagged hairs and Warrick waiting looking at photos. "Well our suspect is a blonde, so that leaves only one suspect."

Warrick gave me a strange look. "What?"

"One of them had really light eyebrows and roots so that gives us a little leverage to work on, that is if she will confess. If not we have to wait further for fingerprint analysis to come back." I told him.

He nodded. "So how'd it go with Ecklie?"

I shrugged. "It was normal, I made sure Greg didn't lose his cool."

"He freaked out when we learned of your disappearance, and I knew you two were tight but I had no idea. How long have you been keeping this from all of us? It's like Grissom and Sara all over again."

I laughed. "Well they knew. A couple of months, maybe four."

"So you're all right now after everything?"

I nodded, but focused my attention on our photos. "It's not the first time this has happened Warrick. I was fine then, and I will be fine this time around as well."


	8. Chapter 8:Unfortunate Events

I've been at the lab for a couple of months but I had to take a personal day. I needed to call Aksel, maybe he'd answer and give me counsel. Instead I went to a bar where I got buzzed and went home to the low-rent apartment building that was falling apart to polish off a few more beers. It was my way of coping with the death that had followed me all my life. It was all in my file of how my parents had died, which Grissom had understood and gladly let me take sometime off. Ecklie was skeptical, but I had won him over. But in the current moment I was knocking back bottles to keep from the searing pain enveloping my being.

Greg had told me he had the night off too, and since we got along so well he offered to do something. As much as I enjoyed the man's company, tonight was not a night to be social. I dumped the empty bottles into my recycling can, and popped another open. I was getting dizzy, which meant I was drinking too much, but tonight was a night that I needed to get drunk off my ass. Swigging the liquid into my mouth I was pleased at the sensation of it running down my throat. I didn't typically drink this much anymore, but the amount of alcohol in my system right now wasn't helping. The shrill of my cell phone startled me and I stumbled to it.

I didn't look at the caller ID before answering. I didn't sound drunk but that was because of much practice masking my slurs during my teen years. "Hello?"

"Siv, can you come in tonight? We need help on this one case."

"Grissom? I have the night off, and-and I just don't think that I could come in."

"Why not?"

"Well…" I trailed off and then dropped the phone from the dizzy spell that took over me. When I gained strength the dial tone greeted me, so I kneeled on my living room floor and began to dial the number I was now learning to memorize. I was far more plastered than I had originally thought, and I was starting to say things that if I was sober I wouldn't even have thought of.

"Grissom call-called me, and I-I can't come in tonight." I told the other line.

"Siv, are you drunk? Your words are slurring a lot."

I giggled loudly. "Of course I-I'm drunk Greg, don't you know that-that girls like me always are."

"Siv, I'm coming to get you and bring you over to my apartment, is that okay?" He asked.

"Aw, you just wanna nail me, don't you?"

"No Siv, just stay put, I'll be over in a bit."

When Greg finally arrived I was no better, but was functional enough to pull a cigarette out of my pocket and light up. He looked over at me in disgust, but I just smiled at him. He was looking extremely hot, and I wondered what it would feel like to kiss those lips of his. I was messed up to the point he had to help me into his house, and I made a joke out of him placing me in his bed.

"You just wanted to get me in your bed." I laughed, and then crawled on my knees to pull him by his shirt down on top of the bed beside me.

He was alarmed, but I paid no mind to it, because I was too preoccupied with biting and kissing his neck. I could feel him struggle at first, but I knew he enjoyed it even if I wasn't in the best of states. He pushed me away when his home phone rang, but I wasn't about to let up. I could hear his voice catch in his throat a few times when I teased his neck while he was on the phone with our boss.

"Yeah, she'll be fine, um I can try to see if I can—come in tonight."

I didn't want him to leave, but when I had already given him tokens of my love I had passed out. When I woke up alone in his bed early the next morning I knew that he had gone into work. I also knew that night I'd be working with a major hangover, and that was never good.


	9. Chapter 9: Suspect

A shining through the window glinted off the golden curtain that hung in my face. Groaning I pushed my long blonde hair out of my view sight and began to sit up in bed. I realized this was not my own bed, nor my apartment. My head was pounding, and I needed a cigarette and coffee to help it go away. I glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table, it was well into the afternoon and I knew my own drunkenness had landed me in this mysterious place. The Marilyn Manson posters and the familiar cologne hinted at who I had spent the night with. I should probably stop drinking.

The door opened and in walked a tired Greg Sanders. I gave me a meek smile, and the large red mark on the side of his neck told me everything. Well at least I knew that the hysterical crying side of me didn't grace his presence the previous night. I was still in my clothes from the night before, so I knew nothing had been consummated but I obviously advanced upon him. He held a steaming cup of black coffee, as he had learned that was how I liked it. I took the cup from his hands and sipped it cautiously.

I ran my left hand through my waist length hair and sighed. "Did I try to have sex with you?"

He stared at me with blank eyes for a moment. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry, it happens when I'm drunk. Sorry about your neck." I apologized.

"What happened to you last night?"

I took a large gulp of the black liquid. "Remind me to tell you about it again sometime."

He nodded his head in understanding and then frowned. "Grissom called, Brass needs to speak with you right now."

"Why?"

"Thor's dead."

I nearly spit out my coffee, but controlled myself. That had hit me as a shocker, for even though Thor was an asshole he didn't deserve to die. Okay, in my situation he did, but I didn't understand how he could suddenly die. The realization hit me, He was killed and I was the prime suspect. I placed the coffee cup on the table, and stood up from Greg's bed. By the time I had walked out of his house I already had a lit cigarette in my mouth. Greg disapproved of this habit, but I paid his disgusted looks no attention.

He got into the driver's seat, and began to drive to my apartment, but I told him to just drive to the station. He obeyed my commands while I nursed my hangover with a third cigarette of the afternoon. I was screwed in all senses of the word, but I shouldn't have anything to worry about since I was innocent of any crime. I knew the consequences of murder, and I wasn't stupid enough to get caught even if I performed such heinous acts. I was more stable when Greg had parked the car, but still really nervous.

He grabbed my hand to comfort me and looked me straight in the eyes. Greg was the first worker that I had a real connection to, and I'd consider him my best friend by now. "Hey Siv, it will be okay. You have nothing to worry about, besides I'm your alibi."

I shook my head. "But you left for work last night."

"No, I stayed home with you, I was just downstairs. It's air-tight, it'll be fine. You're just a suspect because you're the last person to have called Thor and they want to know what your relationship was to him."

I sighed, and hit my head on the back of the car seat. "That is just wonderful."

He smiled at me in encouragement. "Come let's just get this over with."

Greg walked me into the station, still hung over and very confused about what had happened the night before. He led me into the interrogation room where Brass and Nick where seated. I sighed, and slumped down in the chair across from them. "Okay, what are you charging me with?"

Nick chuckled. "We just want to know where you were last night, and what you're relationship to Thor Hamssen was."

"Last night I went to a bar, took a taxi home and drank some more and then Gil Grissom called me to help with a case and I called Greg Sanders."

"Why'd you call Greg?" Brass asked.

"Look, I'll be frank, I can hold my liquor and sometimes function but I was unstable last night and I called Greg because he's the first coworker I truly connected with fully."

"What happened after you called Mr. Sanders?" Nick asked.

"He came and picked me up and took me to his apartment, and the last thing I remember is waking up twenty minutes ago to Greg bringing me a cup of coffee." I told them.

"What of your relationship with Mr. Hamssen?" Brass asked.

I sighed. "He's my ex-boyfriend from Norway. He tried to control me, like I was his property, there have been several files of domestic abuse with us and I ordered a restraining order on him. He's still been stalking me since I left my homeland."

Nick smiled at me politely. "That should be all Miss. Landvik, can you send in Mr. Sanders so we can make sure your alibi checks out."

While Greg was being questioned I sat outside waiting for quite some time. I had a feeling Nick and Brass were asking if we slept together due to the mark I had left on his neck. He came out sooner than expected with a smile on his face. "You're cleared."

I smiled. "Thank God."


	10. Chapter 10: Tension

I had given Brass one name of a person whom I thought could be the only person to cause harm to Thor. Audhild Amundsen. She had been Thor's jealous ex-girlfriend and had stalked us when we were dating. That was back when I was happy with him, before I knew the person that he was deep down inside. I had thought that once the relationship was over and I had moved out of the country that I would never see her again. I had wanted to watch her interrogation but I had obligations to a case that Greg and I were still working on. I had only heard the news from Nick who had informed me when the case was closed.

I had grown tired of racking my brain for answers when I came up empty invoking me to leave Greg to study the evidence on his own. I needed a coffee break, and when I entered Nick was there with Warwick trying to go over a new case. I attempted to be polite as I could, and walked across the room to pour myself a cup of caffeine. I tuned their voices out, sipping my coffee and letting my mind wander. I was curious as of why I had such an attachment to Greg Sanders, and why he was noble enough to respect me in the way he did.

As well I wondered how my older brother was fairing. I had not seen Aksel for quite sometime, and since he is my only kin alive it was sometimes lonely. He had the band and all the crude men that had raised me, and I was fixated on crime and science. I'd admit I missed Norway, it was after all my homeland, but now I felt so distant from it. I wasn't sure if I had fallen into a niche in Vegas, or because Norway held so many ill feelings of my childhood.

Nick's voice pulled me from my daze. "Hey Siv, the case got solved."

I raised a brow, "yeah?"

Nick however shot me a smile. "Yeah we have so much evidence to pin on Audhild Amundsen, that she had to confess. She said she was jealous of you, even though you weren't with Thor anymore. I guess he told her that he was."

I took another sip of my coffee, calming my nerves and then shook my head. "No, he probably said I was his property."

I walked off shortly thereafter, and began to make my way back into the reconstruction room. I was pleased to know that I was cleared of any murder suspicions, for I knew Ecklie would have my head if I had gotta charged of something. I couldn't afford another misdemeanor on my record, especially due to what had occurred between Starr and myself. Occasionally I questioned how I had managed to not get fired from that job; then again it made sense when he handpicked me to be live bait. Grissom may have been socially challenged, but I knew his care for his team was a sign that something like that would have never occurred. It was nice to know that someone was on my side for once.

Greg was in the same position that I had left him, only this time he was listening to Marilyn Manson. I shook my head. I knew the feeling, for sometimes distractions could be the best way to focus. I leaned over the table across from him and looked at his photo from a different angle. I noticed something odd on the victim's neck that I hadn't seen before.

I pointed it out to him, "She has a bloody bite mark. Perhaps influenced by vampires?"

Greg didn't look up at me, but he did stare. I sighed, and realized that wearing a low-cut blouse to work today had been a bad idea. My hands pushed myself away from the table, and I let out a frustrated groan. I knew he was a flirt, and that he had been known to hide his porn in lab cabinets, but I thought he of all people would not be solely interested in that. It was proof enough to me, that no matter who you are or what you do the men in your life either take what they want of you or you have to give it up. I didn't want to give it up anymore.

Greg looked up at me finally with an apologetic look on his face, but I was already annoyed and needed another break. I let out a plethora of foreign curses, and let out a scream of irritation, this time letting him know I was annoyed. "You know what Sanders, you're all the same, every single one of you!"

He sighed. "Look I'm sorry, I'm a guy and it was a little noticeable. Don't shove them in my face next time."

"You imply that it was purposeful."

"Yeah well maybe with women like you it is." He retorted.

I glared. "That's extremely mature Mr. Sanders. I think I'll solve this case on my own, and you're wrong about so many things."

In the moment I just left, and decided I needed to make a phone call. Unfortunately the only place to do so was either outside or in the break room. Luckily for me however I spoke in my native tongue to a person that had guided me for so many years. I needed to forget the past of Thor and move on with my life, but I needed to speak with one the men that had guided me through the beginning of my career. I was relieved to hear the deep tones of his voice; he was the only father figure I'd ever known. Dear God, he knew that I was already getting myself into trouble.


	11. Chapter 11: Relief

Word of the argument between Greg and I had gotten around. I knew he wished to apologize, but I was far too stubborn to let that happen and was happy to ignore the man. My coworkers had noticed this, specifically Sara who always had this guarded protection over him. We got on quite well for our attitudes both needed correction, however; I wasn't that enthusiastic about talking of my own social relationships.

In the field when I was documenting and dusting for any prints found on the table surfaces of our crime scene, Sara brought it up. I feigned ignorance, trying to focus on processing the robbery scene, but she was smarter than that. I let out a sigh, and began to tell my story in the midst of dusting. "Sanders, he just…has wandering eyes."

I didn't even have to look at her to know that there was a smirk on her face. "Yeah he does, but I honestly I don't think he meant it to be offending for you. Just talk with him."

I glanced over at her taking her notes. "Sara, what did he say to you?"

"Just speak with Greg."

I had no idea what that meant, but I still didn't listen to her advice. Once Sara and I had made it back to the lab to put our collected prints and other evidence through further analysis. I was ready to head straight home. My shift was done for the moment, for the sun was already starting to peek through the night sky. It was late, and I had to be at my usual graveyard time tonight, so it was best for me to head home. I grabbed my things from the locker, not bothering to change my clothes and headed to my car. The car and radio turned on simultaneously to produce a loud roar and thunderous screams. Dimmu Borgir was always good to blow off some steam, and I was pleased to have pure Norwegian black metal entering my hearing.

I was tempted to light up when I drove myself home, but decided against it. Upon arriving to my slightly run-down apartment, although better than the one I had in Greenwich, I was met with an interesting situation. I had been followed home, and by a person I was none too pleased to see. I glared, watching him get out of his SUV and then stride over to me. His face shone determination for something that I was unsure about.

I stepped back and opened my mouth but he cut me off by covering it with his own. I stumbled against my car in surprise. His hands grabbed my face, and roughly kissed me with so much passionate that I was sure this wasn't reality. Abruptly he parted from me, but I shocked the both of us by leaning into him to continue the kiss. I didn't know what was coming over me, but his blunt actions sparked a flame inside myself. There was something about Greg Sanders that made me insane, and still after the few months we knew each other he was an enigma to me. He had been my best friend in the lab since the beginning, and I wasn't thinking of anything that had happened between us.

I pushed him away slightly only to grab his hand and lead him into my apartment. Yet as soon as I had shut the front door, he had me against the door kissing me again and this time his hands were swiftly moving to unbutton my blouse. I had no protests, as I was doing the same to his shirt. There was not much to be remembered in that early dawn, just clothing gliding off and musically cascading to the floor in sync with Greg's gentle touch. He was too loving and caring, and despite there being no words spoken between us we both knew why this was occurring.

I awoke with an odd feeling of a strong male arm draped across my left hip. I opened my eyes slowly and the flashbacks of the early dawn hit me. We hadn't said anything to each other, our actions spoke for everything and I was wondering what this all meant. I attempted to slip out of the bed, but that arm pulled me back. I turned to stare into the brown eyes of the man that I was so confused about. Last night just wasn't sex, and we both knew it but wouldn't voice it.

His hand stroked my cheek only to run through my bright locks of hair. I smiled at him and then he leaned in to kiss me painstakingly slow. I felt his passion and returned it with full. It didn't surprise me when I realized we hadn't moved from the bed in four hours and that we had to get to work. Greg had left swiftly to change his clothes leaving me to ponder the situation before I had dress myself and head to the lab. It was ironic that we had arrived at the same time, and stood side by side. I hadn't even realized that he had been clasping my hand, until we had parted ways. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.


	12. Chapter 12: A Need To Talk

I didn't know what to make of my episode with Greg, and as it had been a few days past and neither of us said anything I chose to avoid the subject. I was thoroughly surprised no questions had sprung up from my coworkers regarding the peculiar marks we bore on our necks. I was thankful for it though, and did my best to remain professional. Though it was seemingly difficult because I could feel the looks of longing that he sent me that I chose to ignore. I would be the first to admit that I returned the glances when no one was looking. Greg was a passionate lover and that side of him enthralled me, but I felt this awkward vibe between us. Perhaps it was due to the need to always keep relationships professional, especially in our field of study.

For the time being I accepted our position, and continued on working the case that I had been handed a week ago with Sara. She didn't mention anything to suggest that she was suspicious even though I knew she was. I forced myself into studying my work, even pulling double shifts so that I didn't leave until 9 in the morning when day shift began. It was on a day that I pulled another overtime shift that Greg was doing the same. Our nature was not to stop until we knew we could have a lead in our case.

We had stumbled upon each other in the locker room after we had both been forced to go home. I pretended not to notice him stare as I pulled my button-up shirt off to be left in a black beater while I retrieved from my locker an Iron Maiden band shirt. I also pretended that I didn't watch the ripple of his back muscles as he changed into his own t-shirt. I walked out to my car before a word was spoken, but tired-eyed Greg followed me to stop me.

I turned to him with my keys in hand dangling on my index finger. "Sanders, what is it?"

He looked nervous, but proceeded. "Can we talk?"

"Concerning what?"

"You know what Siv. Just come with me to grab coffee and we can talk."

I sighed. "Alright, lead the way."

I had followed his car to a quaint diner where the wait staff all knew him by name and we immediately sat down. We both ordered coffees due to the double shifts we've been pulling. I took a sip and then looked across at the man I had been avoiding for days. "What's wrong? I thought that—"

Greg startled me by reaching across the table and grasping my slender hand into his. "Look Siv, you're unlike anyone I've ever met and that time when you caught me staring at you I felt horrible because I only did so because you're breathtakingly beautiful."

"Gregory, has any woman never told you that flattery gets you nowhere? I apologize for my anger, but I had assumed we would remain the best of friends."

He sighed. "That's the thing, I don't want to be your best friend."

"Greg, I just can't be anything to anyone anymore."

The hand not clasped in mine stroked the side of my face, forcing me to stare into his eyes. "Siv Landvik, I want to make this work. I really like you and I want to make this work for us."

"Nothing ever goes well for me Greg, you have to understand that I am just a walking catastrophe."

Before I could say more he leaned in and brushed his lip against mine. "I'm willing to try it, because that night was not just because I wanted to have sex with you."

I took another sip of my coffee, but it deemed difficult since he had trapped me. "I know Greg, I know that. I-I'll try this, but what about work?"

"Well we'll have to keep it professional, though I'm sure we can keep our private life private."

I nodded, and then smiled at him. "You know no one's ever been so kind and gentle to me like you have been. I really am appreciative of that, you're an amazing guy Greg and if things do not work out between us I hope you find that amazing girl that will fit with you.


	13. Chapter 13: Confessions

A few months into my relationship with this amazing man I was truly happy. Nothing has been so surreal to me than the affection he gives me so abundantly. We showed no signs of a relationship more than friendship in the work place, though with the amount of problems thrown into our view it was impossible. When we did have free time during work it was usually spend drinking coffee, comparing notes on cases we worked alongside each other, or just asking for the other's opinion on cases we worked separately.

By some sort of fate Greg and I had our night off on the same night, so we chose to go out to dinner as we often did when we could and then went to his place. We didn't sleep together, we just laid in his bed talking about the adventures we had in this dangerous job. I was interested in hearing that he used to be more eccentric but now the life of being a csi had forced him into maturity. It was draining the life out of him, but he had told me I was slowly bringing it back and he was eternally grateful.

"So the lab exploded?" I had asked him, after he had told me a few years previous he had been in a horrible accident when he was still a DNA analyst.

Greg nodded. "It wasn't Catharine's fault, it was an accident but there was nothing I could do. It's not the only time I've been hurt on the job either. Did Sara tell you about Fannysmackin?"

"Come again?"

Greg laughed. "These gang of kids started beating up tourists and I got attacked and beaten up during one of the attacks. I tried to save a victim, but I hit one of the attackers and he died in the hospital."

I ran my hands through his growing blonde hair. "Oh Greg, you're lucky to be alive."

His arms gripped tightly around my waist. "Only to be with you. Didn't you have some episodes in New York?"

"Yeah Starr used me as bait, and I got kidnapped. I have a scar from him, he tried to stab me but I was lucky to make it out alive. I Ided him, but they never had evidence to pin a charge to him."

Greg held me even closer and I felt truly safe in his arms. He left butterfly kisses on my neck, for he knew that sign of affection was favorable in my eyes. I smiled at him and wiggled my right arm out of his constricting grasp to run through his hair. He told me his hair had been this long when he had been attacked and he had decided to cut it, but now he was too preoccupied with work to be bothered with it. I was the same way, explaining how my hair was now waist length.

"Tell me more about your past, Siv."

I sighed. "Well my parents are the reason I'm in this field, had my father not gotten caught in the church when it burned down I might not be here. As for my mother she was killed a few years prior, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time but I've always held true everything she taught me as a little girl."

"You told me before that your brother raised you."

I nodded. "Yes, The Boys From Nowhere, his band, raised me. I was raised by horny pot smoking metal heads, that's why my first years of primary school are a blur. I started smoking when I was 13, and I know you despise it but I'm bound to it."

Greg sighed next to me, but kissed my forehead. "No matter what sweetheart I support you in everything. Siv, you do something to me that I've never felt before, you captivate me so much that I can't stand not being around you."

A smile tugged at my lips, but my response was to simply kiss him. I snuggled into his warm embrace, feeling the body heat from his bare torso against my skin sent a sensation down my spine. I was happy to have found someone to care for me so much.

When the morning came, I pulled myself out of Greg's arms and headed downstairs to his kitchen. Greg had a decent sized house that he had saved up for on his lab tech paycheck, and I was grateful for it. I began to make what he referred to as French toast, for I knew the aroma would wake him. I was correct for a giggle came forth from my lips when his arms wrapped themselves around my waist and he playfully kissed my neck. He was a distraction that I was eager to have.

"Are you making me breakfast?" He asked.

I nodded, but before I could speak his doorbell rang. He cursed under his breath, as if I couldn't hear him but I did. His hand ran through his bed head to smooth it down but to no avail. "Umm…I forgot to tell you Grissom and Sara are coming over today. They do this sometimes."

My eyes got wide. "What?"

He disregarded my reaction, and went to answer the door. I heard the voices of Grissom and Sara bounce off of the walls and soon they were in the dinning room. Greg came back to me, and I continued to make breakfast adding more for Grissom and Sara to join us. Greg helped me set the table when I was finished. Our two guests cocked a strange look in Greg's direction, but he only sat down beside of me.

Grissom spoke first. "Well Siv, we have much to talk about this morning."

I had no idea where this was going, but I had an inkling about Sara and Grissom since I met the two. Perhaps Greg and I sent off that very same vibe.


	14. Chapter 14: Nabbed

I sighed zipping up my crime scene jumpsuit, and pulled my hair back with an elastic tie. Grissom had come to me while I was waiting for evidence to come back from the lab, and had asked if I could take a DB downtown. The rest of the team was on separate assignments, and when I was leaving the lab Greg was coming inside covered in garage. I suppressed a giggle waving a farewell to him, and then I was on my way to the crime scene. When I had arrived the responding officer led me inside the run-down motel room, and I began to survey the body and scene. The officer had been a little off, there was just something about him that made me skeptical of the way he nervously shifted his eyes or his weigh from foot to foot. I discovered this more so when I looked at the body, and knew it was not dead.

"Hey—"

Before I was able to finish calling out to the officer, my sense of smell was overwhelmed by a powerful odor. I tried my best to fight back attempting to have my nails scratch his eyes out, but my limbs felt paralyzed and my vision was blurry. I do recall the "dead body" in the center of the room standing up, and then my world was shrouded into an abyss.

When I awoke I was in unfamiliar territory, but I knew this was recognizable. Deep in my mind I knew the dank smell of the decaying cellar even though I could not see into the darkness from below the stairs. There had been two of them, for I had been stronger the first time that something like this had happened to me. It was then that I realized that I was handcuffed to the railing of the staircase, but only on one hand. Either they wanted me to escape or they were watching in the distance. I was conscious to keep quiet, but the only sounds I could hear was a low hum of a television upstairs and two men speaking in low tones. A door was slammed, and that's when I knew the decoy had been given payment and had disappeared.

My arms were bruised from possible beatings and I felt like an old wound had been opened. I squeezed my hand through the loose cuff, and became aware that I was no longer wearing my jumpsuit or a shirt for that matter. When I stood up I cringed at the pain at my side, my hand put pressure on it discovering that I was bleeding. I had been stabbed again or cut in someway obviously to induce blunt force trauma. He hadn't opened a new one, just gave me another one on my side rather than my stomach.

Light cracked through the door that creaked open alerting me that my kidnapper was descending the stairs. I hide myself in the dark, and once he had hit the bottom step I put a foot out to trip him. Foolishly he did this, and I was pleased to be able to get a few punches in. He stood his ground, until he had his blade pressed against my neck. It was then that I had remembered that I never told Greg that I loved him. I could feel it begin to slice through the first layer of skin, and let him think he had control over me. He moved from me only to kick me down to the ground to beat me like he had when I was unconscious. Again he left me in the dark for sometime.

I was unaware of what had been going through Greg's mind, but later he had told me how he freaked out about my disappearance. Though I was able to conclude to this when I awoke in that cellar to a crash and bang of doors in the upstairs. The shouts of "Las Vegas police" let me breathe in a sigh of relief, and when I saw the light shine through the cellar door I was thankful to see it. I hadn't been here for that long but I was bleeding in my side, any longer and I don't think I would have survived.

Boots clomped down the steps and the feel of strong arms lifting me up told me who was rescuing me. "Greg, take the evidence off my hands."

He carried me up the steps and outside to the ambulance where I was told it was not that deep of a wound. They bandaged me up, and once that was done Greg tackled me into an embrace pushing me against the side of the ambulance and kissing me as if I would disappear. I was eager for his kisses, and not caring of who saw I returned them feverishly.

He kissed my neck roughly. "I don't care if they're watching us, I just can't lose you Siv. You've taught me so much in these past couple of months of us just being together. I love you so much."

I smiled at him. "I know Greg, I just…you're the only thing that kept me going. He's from New York Greg, the same guy."

He frowned. "Siv, he's not here, I'm so sorry, I'm glad we have you back though. I was pulling my hair out."

"The whole team is looking at us now, I have a feeling we have to explain some things." I told him.

He continued to kiss me like there was no tomorrow with his hands all over me, and I knew that it didn't matter because our love of each other was much more important. It was a pleasant surprise to finally be in a relationship with a man that cared for me so fully in the way that Greg did. He could claim to be this out of control guy who hid his porn in the lab cabinets, but deep down he was a hopeless romantic at heart and that was exactly what I needed.


	15. Chapter 15: Some Explanations

I took a look in the mirror on the door of my locker, making sure the cover-up was spread evenly across my face to make my bruises disappear. I took my brush out of it to smooth out my impossibly long hair, once I was finished I put it back and made sure the wrinkles were all out of my blouse. I spied Greg watching from behind me and shut the door, letting him know that I was ready for our meeting with Ecklie. He took my hand casually squeezing it to reassure me that our issues would work out, and I was thankful that I had such an appreciative man beside me. We made the walk to Ecklie's office to find him already behind his desk waiting for our arrival.

Greg and I took the seats in front of it, and I folded my hands into my lap. I had coached Greg to have good posture, and to be as polite as he could even if he disagreed with what Ecklie had to tell the two of us.

"You wanted to see the both of us?" I inquired.

Ecklie nodded, while taking a pen to the paper in front of him. "I have to take your personal statements regarding your relationship."

"Isn't that our personal life, not work?" Greg asked.

I glared at him. "Is this to remind us that work should be a professional place? Because I have been adamant since we started dating that we wouldn't bring it into our work, especially since we are so busy."

"Then what about when you were found?" Ecklie asked.

"That's a completely different issue!" Greg rebutted.

"Greg, please. What Greg's trying to say is that the issue of a loved one being faced with danger can invoke emotions that would otherwise not be publicly displayed. I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about."

"Do I? What do you think Sanders?"

Greg sighed. "Siv and I do our work well, and our relationship status will never effect that."

Ecklie sighed. "Very well, but neither of you are to investigate this case."

I was glad to finally be out of his office, as was Greg. I went over to trace to see if results from my previous case had come back, and Greg went to go see Nick about their case. Hodges told me that the trace hair found at my scene had finally be analyzed and compared to my notes. I had three suspects that were female, and all of them were brunettes but I had found a few pieces of blonde and brown hair on the scene.

"You're blonde hair was the root of the trace you had given me, and has similar characteristics to the brown hair found. The brown is synthetic, and one of the blonde hairs contains both the synthetic and natural color." Hodges told me.

"It came back female though? That means that the natural brunettes can be ruled out. I do remember one of them having lighter eyebrows and roots. Thanks Hodges."

"How would you notice something like that?" He asked me.

"I'm a natural blonde, I always know when blondes are fake."

He shook his head. "Leave now, I need my space to process."

I laughed and made my way to the evidence room with the again bagged hairs and Warrick waiting looking at photos. "Well our suspect is a blonde, so that leaves only one suspect."

Warrick gave me a strange look. "What?"

"One of them had really light eyebrows and roots so that gives us a little leverage to work on, that is if she will confess. If not we have to wait further for fingerprint analysis to come back." I told him.

He nodded. "So how'd it go with Ecklie?"

I shrugged. "It was normal, I made sure Greg didn't lose his cool."

"He freaked out when we learned of your disappearance, and I knew you two were tight but I had no idea. How long have you been keeping this from all of us? It's like Grissom and Sara all over again."

I laughed. "Well they knew. A couple of months, maybe four."

"So you're all right now after everything?"

I nodded, but focused my attention on our photos. "It's not the first time this has happened Warrick. I was fine then, and I will be fine this time around as well."


	16. Chapter 16: Familar Scene

Grissom told me to take a few days off from work after being kidnapped, which I did but I was too antsy for action. This was the second time I was taken, and I had a feeling it was the same perpetrator. The one thing that puzzled me most of all was that he never came close to killing me, he only tortured me, fled and then I was found. I wanted to find out who was doing this to me, and their motives. That would have to wait, because Grissom wanted to see me for peer counseling. He wanted to have the reassurance that I was stable enough to be back on the job, as well as worried that a violent reaction would occur much like it had when I was found in New York. Although, I believed that was a different matter.

I stepped into his office where he sat reading a book on profiling kidnappers. I scoffed at the irony of my situation. "You wanted to see me?"

The middle aged man looked up from his book, and nodded toward the chair in front of his desk. I glided across the room and slumped down into the hard chair. Grissom folded his hands on top of his open book, a look of concern evidently smeared across his face. "Are you all right?"

I nodded. "Oh I'm fine, Grissom. I think this time around I have good people surrounding me that care so much about my well-being. It's nice, and I really appreciate that."

"Like Greg?"

A smile creeped across my face, and my voice began a low whisper. "Yeah, but you and Sara already knew that."

"We did, since Greg's attack he's lost the spark that I used to pretend irritated me, but having you around brought that back. It's nice to have the old Greg back, he's good for a laugh when need be but he knows when to be serious. I think you keep him in line."

I smiled. "I try."

"So you'll be alright in the field today?"

"Absolutely."

"Good, you better go meet the rest of the team, they need a hand with a triple."

Grissom held out a slip telling me the address of the scene. I suited up, kit and all to meet the rest of the team out in the suburbs of Las Vegas. The Officer on duty let me past the crime tape and the rowdy crowd once I arrived on scene, then I entered while beginning to note anything out of the ordinary. Warrick was photographing the first body, Hispanic woman of 50 with single gunshot wound to the chest. He looked up at me with a smile, and began to photograph the area around her.

"Any casings?" I asked.

Warrick shook his head, "None here, or fingerprints, or a weapon, but we've got hair samples."

"The vics?"

"I don't think so, not this one at least, they're blonde might be the missus' hair."

"Let me guess Maid in the living room, the wife in the bedroom and the husband in the bathroom?"

He nodded. "How'd you know?"

I had a chill down my spine, I knew this from somewhere. "I feel like I've been in this scene before. I'm going to survey the whole house and take notes, so anyone have the sketches done?"

"Cath's on it, she's upstairs with Greg documenting the bedroom."

I nodded. I explored the ground floor rooms, but finding nothing out of the ordinary I ventured up the steps to note anything peculiar. David hadn't arrived yet to survey the bodies, but when I came across the bathroom door wide open, the trail of blood into it seemed out of place. I noted them, but seeing as Warrick was still photographing the downstairs, I put my kit down and pulled out my own camera. It didn't matter if Catharine or Greg had already documented, there was always room for more photos for sometimes multiple photos of one subject could show several different elements of a crime. The trail of the blood appeared out of nowhere, and I made certain to note that it was most likely due to the body being moved post-mortem. The slit wrists of the husband lying naked on the bathroom towel were awkward to the scene, almost like a cover-up to the real death. I nearly dropped my camera at the vermilion words smeared across the tiled wall. It was a mix of Scandinavian languages that much I could tell, and only consisted of three complete words.

A hand on my shoulder made me spin around so fast I almost fell over. Greg sheepishly grinned at startling me, but I only sighed in relief at it being only he. "I feel like I know this crime."

"How so?" He asked.

I shook my head in confusion. "I'm not quite sure, sometimes cases can blur together, but I honestly feel like I've seen this one before."

"Copycat?"

"No. This killer is telling us something, and he has knowledge in languages. Do you know the ancestry of the owners?"

Greg shook his head. "Why?"

"Just a hunch at his methods."

Greg smiled at me and embraced me quickly. "I know you don't like not being professional on the job, but I have a question for you."

I continued to note anything I saw about the mini-crime scene in the bathroom, while he spoke to me. "Well I know we've been through a lot these past couple of months, and well…do you just wanna move in now?"

I glanced sideways at him. "Sure. Greg, don't be nervous about asking that, I think we've grown so fond of each other that it's time to make that next step."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now go find out if the coroner is here yet."


	17. Chapter 17: Opening A Cold Case

I sat in the evidence room examining the photos from the crime scene with Catharine. Greg had gone to help Sara in the field, and Warrick was seeing where Hodges was on examining the hair found on the maid. I looked at photos documenting the door to the bedroom to the bathroom door and noticed there was no blood spatter between the distances. There was however a puddle in both doorways, which made no sense if both murders were done in the middle of the two rooms. The husband didn't commit suicide, it was set-up and I knew this would prove it. I felt an eerie sensation of familiarity when I looked at the wall from the bathroom. The last word was Norwegian for 'next', and I was still trying to piece together the other languages used for the other two words.

Catharine looked over at me. "What are you thinking?"

I sighed. "I believe I've seen this before."

"Copycat?"

I shook my head. "Not the way this message is put out in a scramble like this, I feel like it's pined toward someone who worked the…"

Before Catharine could ask what I had been thinking further, I sped down the hall to Grissom's office. He looked up from his computer surprised that I had crashed inside and was out of breath. "Get the Oslo Crime Lab on the phone."

"Why?" Grissom asked.

"This triple homicide is a five count."

"How do you know?"

"This went cold in Norway, I worked it and I know the Wall Writer is trying to send me a message. We need to open their case, and we need access to the files."

Grissom handed me the phone and I dialed the familiar number. It was nice to hear a voice I used to work with. "Can you send over the files from the Wall Writer Case back in January of 2006?"

"He's back?"

"Yes, and I need to find this guy as soon as possible."

"No worries, I'll have them send out."

I hung up the phone and darted out of Grissom's office to return to the evidence room. Greg and Sara now joined Catharine at looking over the photos. I sighed and began to search for what I knew would be in this killer's behavioral patterns. Greg handed me over the files about our suspects, and I began to leaf through it. My hunch on his motives had gone sour.

"He's being more random now."

"Siv, what are you talking about?" Sara asked.

"There are two victims before these three, and from what I can remember there were specific reasons for their murders, but these files give us nothing. The case from Norway is being sent over, but it might take some time."

"Do we know what the wall says yet?" Catharine asked.

"I've got a hunch."

"About what?" Greg asked.

"The last word is next, it's in Norwegian, now all I have to do is figure out the other origins. I feel like it's Slavic of some sorts. And it's a three word phrase, so they must be common words."

"You think its message?" Catharine asked.

I nodded. "He's warning me."

"Who?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea."


	18. Chapter 18: Liability

I had figured out the warning "You Are Next", with the help of Sara studying any language coming from the Scandinavian culture. I knew who this guy was, I had gotten inside his head and he wasn't going to evade me this time. The whole sequence had been decoded: "Oslo woman, you are next." Sara was disbelieving, but I knew that this was the same guy that had captured me twice, the third time would mean my death. I needed to break this case, but it wasn't happening and I needed it to. Even with the evidence collected from my kidnapping and what was found in the first case from Norway, the clues weren't lining up.

After a couple of hours of nonstop studying and evaluation, Greg had to drag me away from my desk for a break. His allurement was the coffee he had just brewed, and I couldn't help but notice that he was nervous about something. I settled into my seat at the table and took a sip from my cup, and then I turned toward him.

"What is it?"

Greg cringed. "Grissom wants to see us both."

"What for?"

He shook his head. "Not sure actually, but do you want to go now, or want me to wait for you to finish your coffee?"

I set the steaming cup on the table, and stood up from my seated position. "It's alright, let's go."

What Grissom told me pissed me off. "I have to take you both off the case."

"Why?"

"It's a liability, you're a victim and if Greg worked it and the jury found out about your romantic attachment it could be brought into question. I'm sorry Siv, but I have to do this, but don't worry Sara can pull this off."

I sighed. "I know she can, but this was my case."

Greg cleared his throat. "Siv, there's nothing we can do about it."

"Fine."

"Look, I'm going to switch you to the drowning victim with Nick for now, but that's all I can give you."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll get over it."

Nick was happy to have help from Greg and me. He needed an extra set of hands to examine the crime scene photos to determine if his preliminary evaluation was working out. I was stressed, but made sure to do my best work as always. I was pleased however when Nick told us to just go home after shift, which we all needed from the tumult of emotions coursing through the lab. Greg and I had driven together, so I waited for him to be done in the locker room so we could go home.

He turned around quickly with a smile plastered across his face. "Hey how about breakfast?"

I smiled. "Okay. Let's go."

I sat across from Greg, who seemed nervous again. I didn't understand why he was, but I let my suspicions slide and focused my attention on eating my pancakes. He had been acting strangely since we had sat down, and every time I told myself it was just from the stress at work, I knew I was lying to myself. Suddenly I reached out and grabbed his hand in mind, his smile brighten-up his face and he appeared to have calmed down. I leaned over the table, and kissed him shortly.

Greg cleared his throat, and looked at me for some time. I knew he needed to tell me something. "Siv?"

"Yes?"

"I…um…wait." He fumbled with his words, and then his free hand rummaged in his pocket for something. I was surprised at the box that he produced, and even more shocked with what he asked. "We've been dating for a good half a year or more, but that doesn't matter because you're the most amazing girl ever, and I want to hold onto that. So Siv Malene Landvik, will you marry me?"

I gasped, and Greg opened the box. The ring was vintage, simple and elegant and I fell in love with it. "Oh, Greg, just wow."

"Is that a—"

I cut him off. "Of course I will! I just wasn't expecting that."

He smiled, and slid the ring onto my finger. Oddly enough it fit. "I think Nana knew you were coming into my life. That reminds me, I want you to meet my parents soon."

I nodded. "Anything for you Greg."

"It was her ring, before she died, she told me that I was going to meet the girl that was my counterpart and that the ring would fit her finger. Nana was right, as always. Did I ever tell you she was psychic?"

"No, you didn't."

"Well she was, but I'm sure Papa Olaf will explain that better. He's going to love you."

I smiled at him. "I hope so."


	19. Chapter 19:Papa Olaf

The hot breeze of the desert blew into the open window, while the loud black metal poured out into the open airwaves. Greg had been driving for at least a half an hour, and I was confused as of where exactly we were going. He had told me we were going to be meeting his parents, but I had been under the impression that they still lived in California. He turned into a neighborhood with lush green grass, that I knew for the desert of Nevada had to either be fake or highly maintained. He pulled into the driveway of a two-story brick house with a front porch and a swing on it. It was not exactly what I expected from his parents.

I turned to my fiancée in confusion, but he just smiled and got out of the car. It was Saturday and we weren't working, sometimes we got lucky that we didn't get called in because crime made people in our profession always on call. Before I got out of the passenger's seat, Greg was already opening the door and taking my hand. He was quite the gentleman when he wanted to be. I let him lead me up to the house, but I had to voice my thoughts.

"I thought your parents were in California."

He nodded. "When I got attacked they moved to Nevada to be closer, but they respected my privacy of my own life so that's why they're at least 30 minutes away. It's nice though, I can see Papa Olaf when I want to now."

He had led me to the front of the house, and he knocked three times, his signature knock. A woman in her early sixties with light brown hair that had darkened through the years answered the door and smiled at the man standing beside me. She engulfed Greg in a tight embrace, and I knew this to be his protective mother. She smiled at me and gestured for us to come inside. I felt like a lost puppy following Greg, but I chose to do it because I knew how much me meeting his family meant to him. I'd do anything to make him happy, and I knew this would. Before Greg could introduce me, two men, one the same age as the woman and the other nearing the end of his life, entered the room and welcomed Greg into the house.

Greg smiled, and pulled back to push me in front of him. "I'd like you all to meet Siv, and we're getting married."

Greg's mother was ecstatic. "Oh Gregory, I knew one day you'd find her."

Greg's grandfather smiled at me. "Nana's ring fit then, my boy?"

"Yes, it did." I told him.

"What a lovely girl, and Norwegian too!" He exclaimed.

Greg's father took my hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you, and we think you're great regardless of your nationally."

I smiled. "Well that's good to know."

His mother cleared off the dining room table, and beckoned for us to take our seats. "Now tell us how you two met."

"Well, Siv and I work together at the crime lab, so we understand the hectic nature of our jobs and we work the same hours so it's not like my hours get in the way of our relationship. Siv's from Norway."

"Really now?" Papa Olaf asked.

I nodded. "Born and raised. I worked for the crime lab in Oslo, I went to New York for one year and this is my first year in Las Vegas."

"How do you like it?" His father asked.

"It's different than what I'm used to, but I like it. My job and the people that surround me have really made it my new home."

"Do you speak the native tongue?" Papa Olaf asked.

I nodded. "Of course. Has Greg spoken nothing of me?"

Greg sheepishly looked away. "I've been busy with cases, you know that."

His mother shook her head. "Are you taking good care of my boy? Does he eat well? He hasn't been hurt on the job lately, has he?"

Greg groaned. "Mom…"

I scolded him by tapping his nose. "I try my best."

She seemed satisfied with my answer, and by all their smiles I knew that the visit had gone well. Underneath the tablecloth, Greg grasped my hand and gave it a squeeze. He leaned over and kissed my cheek, evoking a smile to paint its way across my face. I was happy that his family approved of me, and it made me realize that this was going to work between us. I was also ecstatic to have Papa Olaf so happy that I was the girl Greg was destined to marry.


	20. Chapter 20:Fear

Weeks into the Oslo Case, I had arrived to work to begin observing the prints lifted from a case that I was working with Warrick. This was an easy B & E, that I was confident would be solved in no time. However, before I was able to go find my partner, Sara nearly ran me over. I was highly taken back by her odd behavior, and led her to the break room where she could get some coffee in order to logically sober up. Sighing to myself, I sat across from her and asked her what the damage was.

"This is definitely aimed at you, but I can't talk about the case…"

I cut her off. "Then what do you need to tell me?"

"Just…you're in danger, watch your back and make sure someone is with you at all times. We don't need you to be kidnapped for a third time and never come back."

I nodded. My hands pulled my hair behind my neck, so that I could work without it getting in the way, and Sara gasped. She grabbed my left hand and looked at the ring on the appropriate finger. "I knew he was going to ask you, but he never said he did it. It was his Nana Olaf's right?"

I nodded. "That's what he told me."

Greg's voice floated in from the doorway. "Nice of you to finally notice Sara."

"I've been swamped with this case. Everyone else knows?"

Greg laughed at her. "Basically. Hey, Warrick wants to see you about the prints you two collected."

I nodded, and stood up from the desk. I bid my goodbyes to my coworkers and headed to the evidence room where Warrick was awaiting me. I smiled at him while I slid my hands into my gloves. He asked me to look at the unknown, the victim's prints and the ones we had collected from the suspects. No matches.

I sighed in defeat. "I wish we had DNA, then we could have some connection."

Warrick agreed. "So how is the future Mrs. Sanders doing today?"

I shook my head. Warrick had been referring to me with that title often. "Alright. My brother called this morning, and apparently he's in town. I'll meet him after his gig once I'm off shift."

"He's a musician right?"

I nodded. "All our lives. Aksel raised me once my father died, I suppose it would explain some of the oddities I possess."

Warrick laughed. "What if this is a set-up?"

"The victim wasn't supposed to be there you mean. Well we got prints from the owner, should we run them?"

"Yeah, go give them to Wendy to run through AFIS."

I sighed. "Alright, but this is going to take a couple of days."

I took the evidence bag with the unknown prints from the house and the owner's prints and ran them over to Wendy. She smiled at me. "What do you have for me today?"

"This is the owner of the house's prints and this is the unknown prints found on the scene, can you run a comparison on them?"

"Sure thing."

I spent the rest of night going over what little evidence we had with Warrick. We had a theory that the owner of the house was trying to fraud money from his insurance company by robbing his own house, and that his son had gotten in the way. The Victim died of blunt force trauma, which could theoretically been accidental, due to the fact that there was only one blow to the back of the head. It was the only thing we had at the moment, and if the prints came back negative, the case would have to go cold. Seeing that we were getting nowhere, Warrick and I decided to call it quits. He headed home to his wife Tina, and I went in search of Greg.

I found my fiancée getting results from the DNA lab on the case he was currently working with Catharine. I stood in the doorway and waited for him to acknowledge me. We had brought separate cars so that if I got out early I would just meet him at home. He smiled at me once he had his results, and we walked out to the reconstruction room when he was done.

"I'm heading home, Aksel and the boys might be over tonight."

Greg nodded. "That's right you said they were in town. Well I'll see you when I get home then, be careful."

"I always am."

I walked out to my car, and flipped open my cell phone. I was pleased to have my brother answer on the first ring. "Hey, I just got off shift, where are you?"

"Well, at your house."

"Oh, yeah, did I give you the address?"

"This morning, sorry I forgot you work nights, but we're just waiting for you."

"Okay, I'll be there."

I drove as fast as the speed limit allowed to get to the house that Greg and I now shared. A cigarette was tucked behind my ear, and I had a feeling that the boys and I would share a few drinks. I pulled into the driveway to find their tour bus taking up the right side of it, Greg would be in a surprise when he came home later. Almost immediately I had my cigarette lit and I was talking with the four men that raised me like I never left their side. We headed to the backyard patio to have a few smokes and drinks that they provided. I insisted on being outside because I knew that Greg would freak if he smelt smoke in his house.

Aksel pushed back his mahogany hair out of his face, to take a swig of his beer. I took one too, then sucked in some nicotine to my lungs and tapped the ash of my cigarette into the tray set on the plastic white table. I hadn't seen these boys in a long time and it was good to see my family again. Aleksander, the youngest and shortest of the bunch had been a dear friend of mine through my adolescence. He was the bass player and had taught me years ago, he was also the only blonde in the group much like myself. Despite the strange reasons, we were bonded the most. Fredrik was the same giant that I remembered; though it was masked highly by the fact he was constantly sitting as The Boys From Nowhere's drummer. Lastly Mikkel had been a father figure to me, and had pulled me out of a few jams when I was a teenager. He was the one that told me to get an education and to stop doing illegal drugs. To say I owed him was an understatement.

"So what's been going—"

My brother's question was interrupted by Aleksander's outburst. "What the hell is on your finger?"

All four of them looked at the ring on my left hand and I smiled. It was at that moment that the back door opened and Greg came out. I beckoned him over. "Guys, this is my fiancée Greg Sanders, Greg this is my brother Aksel and his band mates."

Aksel stood and shook Greg's hand. "It's good to meet you, I hope you take good care of her. I mean I thought Thor would have done a good job keeping watch of her, but I'm glad Siv has someone."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Mikkel sighed. "When you left we sent Thor to look after you, and he told us you were kidnapped in New York so that's why he came to Vegas."

"Did you not know that Thor thought women were just property?" I told them.

Greg protectively put an arm around my waist. "Siv, calm down, they were doing what they thought were right. Although Thor thought you were property, he was only trying to protect you from this killer."

I sighed. "I just wish one of you would have told me first."

Aksel gave me a weak smile. "We're not good with people Siv, that was always your job."


	21. Chapter 21:Relief

Aksel and his band had been impressed with Greg and were happy that I was finally getting married. Greg was just happy to be with me, but anxious to get married. We had planned a date to have it and sent invitations to our few friends and family, but I was holding out. I really wanted my case of the killer from Oslo to be solved before I took that next step with Greg. I truly loved him, but I had some thinking to do first. As of late I had been working myself to death on other cases that I had been assigned too, working with whomever was available and having to wait for long periods of time before getting any word back.

Sara was still working my case while doing others on the side, and suddenly out of nowhere when reviewing a piece of evidence she found a distinct tool mark that had sliced through my body on the first kidnapping scene. I still had the scar to prove it, and it matched a knife that had been found around the perimeter of the triple murder scene. She had to have me write a second statement as a victim and what I can remember from both instances. So that they can be used in court while she waited for the DNA to come back to this one suspect she had her eye on. I had been a little overwhelmed by the whole situation that Grissom wanted to take me off my own cases, but I flat out refused.

Grissom sighed at my stubbornness, and pointed to Greg. "You two are counterparts."

I smiled a cheeky grin. "Of course. I mean, who else would marry this goof ball?"

Greg glared at me. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that, but I think Grissom is right. The stress of once being a victim is getting to you."

I shook my head. "No it's not."

"Sara's talking to him now." Grissom informed me.

"Can I go watch?"

He solemnly nodded his head. "Greg, go with your fiancée, make sure she's okay."

I watched through the glass at Sara interrogating the suspect, who was surprisingly calm. My hands were sweaty and my heartbeat was thumping loudly, this was definitely the guy that had tortured me. I wanted to know why he did it twice and let me live, and when Sara finally voiced it I was appalled. He had wanted to watch me suffer, to hear me scream out in anguish and repent for all the sins I had done through my lifetime. He was sick, but the question remained why I began a target, though I had a feeling it was because he had been there in the shadows at the scene of the first crime. That was what attracted him.

Greg wrapped his arms around me, while we watched Sara and Brass finally get him to confess fully. To see the man I had been living in fear of being cuffed and lead away by an officer was a joy to my very being. I knew it was a relief to Greg as well, and my coworkers who had been jumpy every time I left a room without someone with me.

"He's caught Siv, I think it's time we get married." Greg whispered on my neck.

I smiled at his voice tickling me. "Yeah, I think so too."


	22. Chapter 22:White Wedding

22-White Wedding

I took one last look at myself in the mirror, to make sure that everything was in place. Catharine and Sara, the only women I got along with, were my bridesmaids and stood behind me as my encouragement. Catharine handed me her lace white gloves that she probably wore in the 80's but I liked them, and I pulled them onto my hands. I had something borrowed, the dress I wore was new that I made look more to my style, my engagement ring was old since it had been Greg's grandmother's and there was one streak of blue in my hair. It had been my choice to do so, showing off my quirks and I knew Greg would think it was hilarious. My brother had shown up, surprisingly cleaned up and I was glad that he was giving me away.

Catharine and Sara left first, and I waited with Aksel for a little bit before it was our cue to depart. He took my hand in his, "Siv, I want you to know that you are the best sister I have ever had, and that momma would have been proud of you. You've gotten far in your life, and possess knowledge that I cannot even begin to understand. Greg's a good guy, and I know he'll take care of you well."

"Aksel, I really appreciate all you're support, and I'm glad that at least you can be here to give me away to my husband."

Aksel stood, hearing our cue and led me into the chapel for the ceremony. We had chosen a particularly modest church, not anything outrageous and just wanted it to be simple. I noticed when I walked down the aisle with my big brother, how small our ceremony really was and I was actually happy about that. All Greg and I needed was our few family and friends. Aksel placed my hand in Greg's and kissed my cheek before sitting in the first row of pews. I smiled at the man that I had grown so fondly of, and I knew in that instant that everything was going to be okay. If it had not been for meeting Greg, I may have had a different perspective on life in Vegas, I may not have even stayed. But having someone to hold you and tell you it was okay during the most trying on cases, helped to ease me. We completed each other, and I would have it no other way.

When the vows were finally taken, and the rings placed on I was happy to have Greg's lips on mine to seal the deal. He whispered in my ear softly, "I love you Siv Malene Landvik-Sanders."

I shook my head. "Mrs. Sanders is just fine."

He smiled at my suggestion. "I'm glad."

I kissed him again, "You're welcome Mr. Sanders." And then we were off to complete the duties of being newly married. What journeys lay ahead, I was uncertain, but one thing was for sure that Greg and I would be in it for the long haul.


End file.
